Grand Slam of Ultrarunning

So, I'm attempting the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning this year.  It's not something I was planning to do until just a few months ago, but sometimes you don't choose the adventure, the adventure chooses you...

In the summer of 2016 I hit a really rough patch.  I felt burnt out and except for a couple of races I DNF'd all my races in the summer and the fall.  Not because of injuries or health issues, not even stomach issues, it was all psychological, I just gave up. Additionally, I had spent a few days running and camping in the Grand Canyon and Zion Canyon in the fall and I fell in love with it. So by winter I was ready to move on from races and do my own thing in longer trails and national parks.... But ultras aren't done with me!

To my surprise, a friend called me in early December to congratulate me because I got selected to start at the Western States 100 Miles Endurance Run through their lottery.  This is the oldest and most prestigious 100 Mile race in the country.  Thankfully, the one ultramarathon I did finish in the summer was the Vermont 100, which granted me a spot in the Western States 100 lottery.  I entered the lottery not expecting to get in because it was only my second year qualifying for it, so I didn't even pay attention to it after I threw my name in the hat.  Needless to say I was ecstatic, even of the previous few months had been that bad.  I immediately realized that I was incredibly lucky and that it may take years, I maybe decades, for me get this opportunity again, so I made the decision to attempt the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning.

The Grand Slam of Ultrarunning is a challenge to complete 4 of the oldest 100 milers in the country in a calendar year.  It consisted of completing:

1. Western States
2. Vermont 100
3. Leadville Trail 100
4. Wasatch Front

It was customary that if runners got in to Western States, and they stated intentions to run the Grand Slam, the other races would give them preference to register or just let them in.  However, Leadville is changing that next year.  Starting in 2018 Leadville will no longer give preferential treatment to The Grand slammers.  The solution that the Grand Slam came up with was to add the Old Dominion 100 as an option. Old Dominion used to be part of the original Grand Slam, but it got replaced by Vermont in the 90's.  Starting this year, the Grand slam consists of:

1. Completing Wasatch Front 100
2. Completing any three of the remaining races:
   • Old Dominion
   • Western States
   • Vermont
   • Leadville

Since I had already gained entry to all the races in the previous version of the Grand Slam, and since most of them draw their starters through lotteries, I naturally decided to attempt all five of them because I don't know when I will have this opportunity again.  Most likely, never.

The first race is Old Dominion in just three days, June 3rd, 2017.  I will be posting my experiences and thoughts about it here.

About me

My name is Hector Reyes and I like to run from time to time.  I used to run track and cross country in high school and I recently started running again a couple of years ago. I ran my first marathon, the Colfax Marathon in Denver, CO in May of 2015.  I ran my first ultras in the fall of 2015, the Northface Endurance Challenge 50 miler in Park City, Utah was my first and Javelina Jundred in Arizona was my first hundred.  All in all, I ran 25 marathons and ultras in 2015 and 20 in 2016.  

I was not very fast in high school and I am not fast now, but being fast is not one of my priorities right now.  Sure, I dream of some day, by some miracle, winning races like the Hardrock 100 or Western States, but the level of effort required to reach that level of competitiveness is not something I believe I can achieve with the time I have after my job as a software engineer and life in general. So I do the best I can with the time I have and I focus on having fun and staying healthy, physically and mentally.